July 14, 2009 – Steve Letarte, crew chief for the No. 24 Dupont/ National Guard Chevrolet driven by Jeff Gordon, has been named the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Race after Saturday night’s Lifelock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

The team started the race with a stout car, taking the green flag on the inside of row four. Letarte kept his driver running up front most of the night by making adjustments to improve a tight racecar. He remained calm when a Lap 138 tangle between Gordon and Carl Edwards caused both cars to lose significant track position.

But a Lap 247 caution gave Letarte an opportunity to get the No. 24 back to the front. With just 20 laps to go, he called his driver to pit road for four fresh tires in hopes to give him an advantage over the top eight teams who chose to stay out. The call paid off, and Gordon was able to pass cars at ease on his way to a second place finish.

“The caution came out at the right time for Steve Letarte to make an excellent call to come and get four tires, and the whole pit crew just did a fantastic job getting us off pit road,” Gordon said after the race. “I’m proud of Steve Letarte and all the guys on this team by making some great pit stops and just sticking with it.”